St Joseph's Home for Boys: Developing a Model for Family-like Children's Residential Care in Resource-Poor Settings

Background: A quarter of a million homeless children live in Haiti, a country plagued with violence, natural disasters, and poverty (Jean, 2012). Traditionally, poor families have resorted to either sending their child to live as a domestic servant with another family, or placing their children in orphanages in the hopes that the children will receive food and education (Kolbe, 2013). But outcomes for these children are poor with many exhibiting serious educational and social consequences of being raised in an institution.

Over the past 40 years, several new models were developed as alternatives to Haiti’s orphanages. One, the Saint Joseph’s Family, serves homeless and disabled children. The theory of change used by the program is based in social learning theory and focuses on re-socializing children in a family-like environment by setting limits and modeling appropriate behavior. This model has been particularly successful with most graduates attaining employment, exhibiting good parenting skills (as adults), and having stable and productive adult lives. While quantitative reviews of the program have consistently demonstrated these positive outcomes, the specific elements which make the program unique and successful had not been identified.

Methods: A qualitative study using snowball sampling was conducted with youth and adults who are/were residents of the Saint Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince, Haiti focusing on the elements of the program which helped or hindered emotional, social, educational, and economic outcomes. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted in Haitian Creole by a BSW student who serves as a residential director at the program as part of a larger effort to document the program’s model.  

Results: A number of themes emerged from the interviews including the positive role model provided by former street children who have graduated from the program and are employed as well as the impact of daily family meetings where residents and staff discuss concerns and provide mutual encouragement. The role of art, music, and dance was also emphasized as a way in which residents can both express themselves and develop their talents while doing activities typical of children their age. Conflict resolution and problem solving using didactic and structured discussions was also identified as an important element of the program.

Conclusions and implications: As social workers in the Caribbean move away from large institutional programs as a solution for housing poor and neglected children, there is a need to continually develop the evidence base for out-of-home care options. While some impoverished children can live with their families if given access to food and education, others may not be able to return to their homes. Whether children are abused, abandoned, or have social or emotional problems which prevent them from living at home, all children in residential programs need access to services which improve their current wellbeing as well as their prospects for positive future growth and development. This study identified elements of a family-like residential care setting which can be examined further to identify ways in which they can be applied to similar programs in Haiti and other resource-poor settings.